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Published by The Caxton Club, Chicago, 1897
Seller: Midway Book Store (ABAA), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Hard Cover. Condition: vg. 12mo. 2 volume set. Limited to 165 copies. Gilt lettering. Some sunfading to cover of Volume one.
Published by The Caxton Club, Chicago, 1897
Seller: Long Brothers Fine & Rare Books, ABAA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. George Derby (illustrator). Limited Edition. 12mo. Pp. xxxiii, 123; 119, [15 plates]. Vol I. Frontis. gravure portrait with tissue guard, Vol. 2 frontis. Squibob engraved portrait and signature. Preface by editor Cheney. Vol. 2 concludes with a section of Derby illustrations, facsimiles and color plates reproducing watercolors. Title pages printed red and black. Green cloth, Caxton device stamped in gilt on the cover, titles and diapering stamped in gilt between four raised bands on the spine, gilt tops, others untrimmed. Printed at the Lakeside Press, Chicago. Edition limited to 165 on handmade American paper. Spines and head edges sunned, minimal age-toning to leaf edges. Reputed to be the first humorist published on the West Coast, West Point graduate Derby (1823-1861) was a lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers sent to San Diego in 1853 who supplemented his income by selling these parodies to San Francisco and San Diego newspapers, first under the pseudonym Squibob, then John Phoenix. The tenth publication of the Club just two years after its founding. The editor made minor changes to the text of the 1855 D. Appleton edition, then in its 35th printing. .
Published by The Caxton Club, 1897
Seller: Barry Cassidy Rare Books, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.
Book
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 2 volumes. Publisher's cloth binding with gilt lettering and decoration, sunning along edges and spine. Noticeable scratches of Volume 2 front cover. From colophon, "The Publication Committee of The Caxton Club certifies that this copy of Derby's Phoenixiana, two volumes, is one of an edition consisting of one hundred and sixty-five copies on American handmade paper . printed from type, and completed in the month of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven." This copy belonged to Irving Stone (1903-1989), best-selling author of biographical fiction, and has his signature on the front fly leaf of both volumes. George Horation Derby (1823-1861) was an Army officer and humorist who wrote under the pseudonyms "Squibob" and "John Phoenix". He is considered California's first published humorist. This is a collection of his satirical articles about high society written from the viewpoint of "John Phoenix".